Andretti

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Team Green garage was one of what-ifs. If Laurent Redon and Buddy Lazier hadn't crashed, Paul Tracy may have left Indianapolis with CART's third straight victory at the Brickyard. That controversy won't end without a lot of debate.

But Tracy was not the only Team Green driver who leaves Indianapolis with a feeling that he could have been immortalized on the Borg-Warner Trophy.

For Michael Andretti, it was: What if his team hadn't had troubles in the pits?

Making his 13th appearance in a race that has left him wanting more each year, Andretti again came up short. Despite a seventh-place finish -- his eighth top-10 here -- the 39-year-old former CART champ doesn't need to be reminded that his time is running out.

"I am very worried. I'm running out of chances," he said.

Andretti, who drove in his back-up car after choosing to dequalify his No. 1 car on Bump Day, felt good from the start.

"I thought this was going to be our year," he said. "My car was good. I felt very confident after the first 10 laps."

Starting from the left of the ninth row, Andretti quickly made his way to the front, running as high as second. But car problems pushed him back every time he made a move.

"We just had one of those races -- everything went against us again," Andretti said. "We were playing catch-up the whole day."

First, he ran out of gas. Then he ran over a wheel nut in the pits and his team called him back in order to ensure that he didn't have a flat. That forced him to the back of the line. He moved back to the front, but on his next pit stop, the engine stalled ("It went -- blah").

Andretti, who finished third a year ago, could have returned to the podium again this year, but he had yet another pit problem late in the race.

"We dropped the car before the right rear was on, and they knocked the wheel weight off, as well," Andretti said. "Then I couldn't see in the corners and the straightaway because the car was bobbling so much.

"It was just one of those days. We really -- if that pit stuff wouldn't have happened -- we might have been able to finish third. But hey, everybody tried hard."

Mario Andretti won in his fifth attempt at Indy, only to come up short his final 24 times. For Michael, he's hoping one of these days he'll end the Andretti run with some good luck and a splash of milk.

Until then, the month of May and Andretti disappointment will remain synonymous.

Mike Diegnan is the Editor of ABC Sports Online and can be reached at michael.diegnan@abc.com.